The Sides of Winter
by rotgfanatic
Summary: Jack has been alone for 200 years before the events of the Blizzard of '68. What happens if a child, terrified of the rampaging storm outside, starts believing in the Spirit of Winter and sees Jack? Jack becomes addicted to the feeling of recognition and continues to create deadly blizzards without a care for the safety of those affected. AU starting from his birth until the movie
1. How It Is

**The Sides of Winter**

**AN: This is my first ever story. Hope you like it. I have ten chapters outlined and I do plan on finishing this story, but I am in school and finals are coming up so updates may or may not be quick in coming. Please review. As I said, this is my first story and I need the critique.**

**Summary: Jack has been alone for 200 years before the events of the Blizzard of '68. What happens if a child, terrified of the rampaging storm outside, starts believing in the Spirit of Winter and sees Jack? Jack becomes addicted to the feeling of recognition and continues to create deadly blizzards without a care for the safety of those affected. AU starting from his "birth" until the movie. Baby Tooth is a big part of this story, but I'm not telling you why until the story gets there.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any recognizable characters or material, sadly.**

**Chapter 1: How it is**

Outside a small village in colonial America, there is a pond that the village children use regularly for their fun and games. During summer they swim in its depths and during winter they ice skate across its surface. Earlier that day, two such children had been planning on ice skating, as children love to do, before tragedy struck. One of the children, a boy of 14, fell through the ice saving his sister from that very same fate. The little girl screamed and cried for hours, begging for her big brother to come back to her, only for her wish to be denied.

But what she didn't know, was that someone had heard her. Someone who could grant her wish, even if she could never see her brother again.

The Man in the Moon looked through his telescopes to the pond that held the body of a boy with so much potential. _But what kind of immortal would he be?_ Manny thought about this question for many long minutes until the answer came to him. He had already created three Spirits of the Seasons, but was still missing an immortal to usher in winter. He had been looking for years for a candidate who could make winter the joyful season it was always meant to be.

The Man in the Moon smiled as he began his work to resurrect the boy to become the Spirit of Winter.

* * *

If anyone had been looking that night, they would have seen a miracle. A young boy, who only hours ago had drowned beneath the icy surface of the pond, was rising through the ice.

The boy was pale with hair as white as the snow surrounding him. His eyes were so blue they practically glowed in the moonlight. He had clothing that no one would be jealous of. Handmade and barely held together, they looked like they would fall off him any moment. His brown cloak hung loosely around his shoulders, providing little warmth to its wearer. Despite the temperature and the snow and ice around him, the boy was barefoot.

He didn't notice as the ice closed and solidified around him in response to his presence, his attention completely focused on the glowing orb in the sky as he stood alone on the ice.

_Your name is Jack Frost, the Spirit of Winter,_ the moon said to the boy.

Looking around him, Jack started walking towards the edge of the pond, only for his foot to kick a long stick with a hook at the end. He looked down in time to see the wood of the stick frost over where it touched his skin. Fascinated he bent down to pick it up, watching as the frost spread across the stick.

Standing up, the end of the staff touched the ice, sending out strings of frost from its end. Smiling, Jack began testing this new found power of creating frost on the different objects around him. After trying it on trees and rocks, he began skating around the icy pond drawing frost designs as he went, his laughter echoing off the trees surrounding the pond.

Suddenly, he was lifted up into the air by the wind sending him flying up above the trees. Startled, Jack flailed, falling out of the loving embrace of the wind to fall on a tree branch nearby.

From here, Jack could see the village nearby. Smiling he asked the wind to pick him up and take him over there. The wind happily agreed and picked up the laughing child to do his bidding.

Landing ungracefully just outside the village, Jack brushed off some of the snow before making his way into the village, too excited to notice that no one had acknowledged his presence.

"Hello," Jack said to a nearby villager. "Did you see that?! Wait to see what else I can do!"

As the villager kept walking, Jack tried a child walking towards him, barely able to hold in his excitement.

"Hi! Could you tell me where I—," Jack was cut off by a physical and emotional pain so intense it took his breath. Opening his eyes he realized the child had walked right through him!

As he backed away, another villager walked through him. Then another and another. The wind picked him up and took him away from the village before anyone else could cause the child pain.

Jack spent the rest of that night in a tree, curled around himself and staring longingly at the lights of the village, wondering why no one could see him.

* * *

For the next few weeks, Jack asked the wind to show him the world. It took him to its favorite places, the highest peaks of the Himalayas where it could play through the rocky slopes to the northern tundra where it could run freely.

Jack marveled at the size of the world and the beautiful buildings that people around the world had constructed, from the village huts of isolated communities to the brick buildings of civilized society.

Asking the wind to take him farther south, Jack found himself in the mountains on the eastern side of Northern America as the sun began to rise. And with the rising of the sun, the temperature began to rise as well. Although not too hot, Jack got the distinct impression that he didn't want to be anywhere near the hotter areas of the world.

While watching the local town's children play in the forest, he became aware of someone watching him.

Turning his head, Jack saw a very tall black man standing not too far from him. He was bare-chested with only a leather strap across his shoulder to hold what looked like a hunting knife. He wore no leggings but instead what appeared to be a skirt made of leather reaching to mid-thigh. Unlike Jack, the man wore sandals that looked like they gave little protection from the elements. The man was bald with dark brown eyes that practically glared at him.

And that was what surprised Jack the most. It was not the exotic look of the man, but the fact that their eyes met and Jack knew the man could see him.

"Hello?" Jack didn't know if it was actually a greeting or not. He was so confused as to why someone could see him. Until now, no one had even heard his voice.

"What are you doing here?" the man demanded. He didn't sound at all happy to see Jack.

"Uh…I asked the wind to take me farther south. It already showed me the northern parts of the world and I wanted to see the rest," Jack said hesitantly, not at all sure if it was the right thing to say. He pulled his staff in front of him for protection from he knew not what, wringing it in his hands.

"You are the Spirit of Winter, right?" the man demanded. Jack nodded and the man continued. "Then you shouldn't be here. Winter has already left this area long ago and summer will be approaching soon. My time of year. You need to leave. How did you get past Hanako anyway?"

"Who?" Jack had no clue who or what this man was talking about and he was getting more confused by the minute.

"Huh. You are new, aren't you," the man grunted, some but not all of the hostility dissipating from his dark eyes. "Hanako, a young Japanese girl, is the Spirit of Spring and the Spirit of Autumn is Taima, a girl from a native tribe nearby. I'm the Spirit of Summer and my name is Adeen. You are the Spirit of Winter. The four of us keep the balance of the seasons in the world. Each season has its own time and end. Winter left this region long ago, and so you are not needed here."

"But what if I wanted to be here? You know, to visit or something," Jack questioned, his brows furrowed in confusion. He understood the changing of seasons and that his own season was not present in the world around him, but what if he wanted to visit?

"You can't be here," Adeen's anger was starting to come back and with it, little spurts of fire were dancing around his fingers.

Unsure of what to do to defuse the situation, Jack didn't move. He didn't really want to leave. He was enjoying watching the children play their games and he wasn't making any trouble. He hadn't made a single snowflake since he landed. So why did he have to leave?

Adeen's anger seemed to flare, and, before Jack had time to respond, the man's arm swung his way, fire appearing rapidly. The heat of the fire was extremely uncomfortable and Jack definitely didn't want to find out what the actual fire felt like.

Jack tried jumping away only for his right leg to get caught in the new wave of flames sprouting from Adeen's fingers. Crying out in pain, Jack fell to the ground, desperately trying to put out the fire eating away at his pant leg.

Adeen stopped his attack and looked at Jack coldly. "This was your last warning. I never want to see you outside your season's bounds again. Winter is a vile thing. Hanako, Taima, and I work all year to fix the damage done. Winter deals out death to plants and animals alike. You are no different from the season you command. The next time any of us catch you stepping into our seasons, we will leave you at the equator to melt."

With that said, Adeen jumped into the wind and flew off with one last glare in Jack's direction.

Having finally put out the fire, Jack slowly and painfully stood up, trying to keep his weight off his right leg that now sported some interesting red burn marks.

Looking skyward, Jack asked, "Wind, take me somewhere cold."

Lifting the boy into the air, the wind took him gently to a snow drift far north of any other seasonal spirit.

Jack piled some snow onto his burns, hissing a little at the pain it caused. He sighed, thinking back to his first interaction with someone who could see him.

"I guess it's just you and me wind," Jack said quietly. "None of the villagers can see me and the other immortals don't want anything to with me." At this last part, his eyes started to water, foreshadowing the tears to come if he stayed on this train of thought.

Wiping his eyes, Jack looked around him. Grabbing his staff, he smiled and said, "Well I can always play with the children by helping to make snowballs and snow forts."

The wind ruffled his hair playfully in agreement before picking him up and taking him to the nearest village to do just that.

And for nearly two centuries, Jack was able to keep the depression at bay.


	2. The Blizzard of '68

**AN: Thanks so much for the reviews! Helpful criticism is always appreciated. I can't believe I actually have followers for this story. I never expected it to be any good, so thanks for your faith in me! I'm really looking forward to the next chapter because that's when the story will really start, so hopefully there will be another update soon.**

**AN2: If you didn't catch on from the last chapter, I had a huge time skip (~200 years) to get to this chapter. Also, the Guardians will be coming into the story in the next chapter. :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything but my own characters.**

**Chapter 2: The Blizzard of '68**

Jack was having a bad day. It had started out fantastic, having been playing with the children of Burgess in a park on the outskirts of the town. But all good things must come to an end in his life, unfortunately, and now here he was. He had completely lost control of his icy powers and the raging blizzard around him showed no signs of letting up. Normally being walked through wouldn't have brought this level of grief and desperation to the surface, but everything that had happened that day had added up into an internal storm rampaging in Jack's heart until it finally broke free.

* * *

**Earlier that day:**

Winter was starting to turn into spring, but Jack wanted to stay an extra few days at his pond on the outskirts of the town now known as Burgess. The town had grown in the nearly two centuries since he became the Spirit of Winter. What once was a village with only a few log cabins for the few dozen villagers living there was now a decent sized town with all the wonders modern technology had come up with. The number of locals had also increased, meaning more children for Jack and the wind to play with.

Which is exactly why the frost spirit wanted to stay.

Now that the weather was starting to warm up, the parents of the town were more lenient about the time their kids spent outdoors. Meaning Jack could play with more kids for a longer period of time.

But with the warmer weather came the onset of spring, and Hanako, the Spirit of Spring. Jack did his best to avoid the other immortals, especially the other Spirits of the Seasons, since his initial run-in with Adeen. His painful meetings with Adeen were few and far between because summer was so dangerous for him, the heat making him weak and ill. Hanako and Taima he saw much more frequently as there seasons bordered his own. If he arrived to an area too early or stayed too late, they would come by and run him off. Although much less volatile in temperament than their fiery counterpart, neither truly liked the frost spirit.

Hanako, being the Spirit of Spring, had a deep connection with all things living and could heal both plants and animals. She was a bit of a loner and could frequently be found beneath the cherry blossom trees native to her homeland conversing with the local wildlife. Although docile and even-tempered, she was also fiercely protective of the plants and animals that made the world their home and would attack any who threatened her friends. She viewed winter as only destruction, an evil time of year that killed those of her friends unused to the cold or unprepared for the harshness that winter brought. Hanako downright hated winter, and by extension Jack himself. Although she never truly aimed to harm the Spirit of Winter, she would run him off as soon as she saw him without so much as a word of greeting.

Taima was much different from her colleagues. Both Adeen and Hanako were ruled by their emotions whereas the Spirit of Autumn was more logical and patient. Although she was deeply connected to nature like Hanako, a remnant of her past life as one of the natives that roamed the forests of North America, she viewed winter as a necessary evil, understanding the need for the land to rest before spring. She had no qualms with Jack personally, as long as the winter spirit kept his winter to himself when he was outside his season. However, being the youngest of the three original seasonals, Taima's views of Jack were also greatly skewed by the words of Adeen and Hanako. She would tolerate the frost child's presence in her realm for only a few days before telling him to leave.

Jack, over the years, had grown to appreciate Taima's tolerance. When he desperately needed to know that there were people out there who could see him, he would run to her so long as he didn't have to cross Adeen's territory.

As the winter spirit sat watching the children play in the park in the outskirts of Burgess, he felt that need approaching. He hadn't seen Taima, or any of the other Spirits of the Seasons, for at least a decade. Although a short amount of time in the life of an immortal, the isolation was not good for the fun loving frost child. Jack had developed the habit of talking to himself, having entire conversations with the wind adding its thoughts by ruffling his hair or tugging on his clothing.

A sigh escaped Jack's lips, thinking of a way to get to his almost-but-not-really friend without crossing paths with Adeen. Taima was in the south of the world now with Adeen between them.

A child's squeal of joy brought Jack out of his musings, bringing his attention to a developing snowball fight between the dozen or so kids that had just arrived at the park. One of the older boys had just shoved snow down the back of a girls coat, making her retaliate by throwing a snowball in his face.

"Come back here Jonathan!" The boy, Jonathan, began running away from the girl laughing hysterically.

Suddenly, the girl was knocked flat by another snowball coming from one of the boy's friends.

"Snowball fight!" All the kids in the park soon became interested in the snow under their feet, trying to make the largest snowball to throw at their friends.

Jack laughed, sliding off his perch on a nearby tree to join the battle. He was glad that the extra effort he put into making this snow last night wasn't going to waste. His power over fun and joy was radiating off the snow and into the kids, making the snowball fight one of the most epic he had ever been a part of.

As the sun started going down and the kids' energy dwindled, parents came to the park, dragging their child home for dinner and warmth. This was Jack's least favorite part of the day. After the fun and games under the sun's rays, the winter sprite would be left alone to stare at the moon wondering why he had to live in such isolation.

Perching on top of his staff in the middle of his pond, Jack tipped his head back to keep the rising moon in view.

"Why?" Jack always began his one-sided discussion with the Man in the Moon with this question, never to be answered. "Why can't I be seen? Did I do something wrong?"

Frowning, Jack looked back down at the ice on his pond. Deciding he could have some fun before the sun rose again, he started skating around, drawing frost patterns with his staff as he went.

No one ever saw his drawings on his pond. After decades of never-thawing ice covering the water's surface, the villagers developed the myth of the spirit of an old man who had died in the water during winter, waiting to trap any wayward traveler in his icy grave. Where this idea came from, Jack didn't know. He suspected Adeen somehow gave this idea to the villagers to spite him.

Whether it was Adeen's doing or not, the damage had been done. No one from the town of Burgess ever came to his pond. Some of the teenagers, looking for a fright, would make their way into the forest only to be frightened away by the chunks of ice and frost ferns sticking to and out of the surrounding trees and ground.

Jack didn't mean to make his home look so frightening, but he couldn't help it sometimes. Even after centuries, his extreme mood swings could sometimes manifest with spikes of ice coming from the ground or hoarfrost sticking to the local plant life. He had gotten better at controlling himself, but when he got too depressed or angry he would lose control of his powers. It was at those times he truly believed the words of his colleagues. He really did destroy everything around him.

Tonight, though, Jack was releasing his excess frustration by drawing across the icy surface of his home. He was almost enjoying himself when a gust of wind smelling of dew and blooming flowers came through the glade, making him turn around and look for his visitor.

Hanako came into view not seconds later, landing on the shore of the pond. She was scowling and looked ready to run him off, the wind ruffling her traditional pink kimono around her bare feet agitatedly.

Smiling, Jack stood straight, swinging his staff to balance across his shoulders, and greeted the Spirit of Spring.

"Hanako. Nice to see you on such a fine evening. What can I do for you?" Jack added a little smirk after his question for effect. It was easier to deal with the spring spirit if she got straight to the point.

Hanako's scowl darkened further with Jack's attitude. "It is practically spring Jack. Why haven't you left yet? The land needs to recover from your presence so the plants and animals can heal and grow again."

Rolling his eyes, Jack said dryly, "Well spring isn't here yet, so I can still be here. I do live here during the winter, after all. And, besides, I wanted to stay and play with the local children for a few more days."

The winter sprite swung his staff down off his shoulders, his grin never faltering, so he could lean on it to appear even more disrespectful. If they couldn't be nice to him, why did he have to be nice to them?

"I'll be out of your hair in less than a week," he continued.

By this point, the spring spirit looked like she wanted to growl. Jack almost laughed, until he heard actual growling behind him.

Spinning around, the frost child came eye to eye with slitted orbs that practically glowed they were such a bright yellow. Jack had met Hanako's wolf friend before. Mizu Ookami was a vicious beast that could have been beautiful if it didn't always look like it wanted to eat him. The grey wolf was big, big enough that it would be eye to eye with Jack with barely any bending over on the winter spirit's part. His yellow eyes showed an intelligence that was astounding coming from and animal and gave the impression that he should have been able to speak.

Hanako wasn't usually the one to run Jack off. Mizu Ookami did.

As the wolf continued to growl, Jack began backing away, holding his hands out as if to ward off an attack. Behind him, Hanako laughed at his obvious fear of the large beast in front of him.

Eyes wide, never leaving the eyes of the great wolf in front of him, and knees bent, ready to jump into the wind's embrace and fly away, Jack tried placating the angry Spirit of Spring.

"You know what? Maybe it is time for me to leave. You're right. Spring has started claiming this land. Winter is still going strong farther north. So I'll just get going and leave you to clean up around here." As he said this, the wind swarmed around him to pick him up.

"I knew you would see reason," said Hanako, her face spreading into a smug smile. "Now get going."

Mizu Ookami punctuated that last sentence with another growl and Jack started flying away, cautious eyes keeping tabs on the wolf. Apparently he wasn't going fast enough, though, because the wolf leapt up into the air and started chasing after him.

Speeding up, Jack took off up into the upper air currents, those that were too cold for the other seasonal spirits but perfect for the already cold Spirit of Winter. He refused to let his tears fall. This certainly wasn't the first time he had been chased from his home, so he should be used to it by now, but it still hurt.

When he landed, Jack wasn't at first aware of where he was. All he knew was that the sun was out, so he had to be on the other side of the world.

Looking around, he saw some houses nearby where parents were dressing their kids warmly for the cold outside their front door, bringing a slow smile to the frost child's face.

One of the children, a little girl, was too eager and started running outside before being properly dressed.

"Can I go now Mommy?" The child's grin was infectious, but her mother kept her face stern, even though her eyes smiled to see her daughter so happy.

"Now you don't want to catch a cold for Easter, do you? It's only a few days away." The woman had finally wrangled her child into a coat and was starting to tie a scarf around her neck.

"Mom," the child whined, trying to pull out of her mother's grasp.

"Now you don't want Jack Frost nipping at your nose do you?"

Jack's heart stopped as he heard that last line, his face freezing in surprise. Jack Frost?! Could it be that the people here knew him? Believed in him? Hope bloomed in his chest like the sun rising after a dark storm.

Coming out of his dazed state, the excited winter sprite dove down into the path of the young girl who had finally managed to free herself from her mother's grasp.

Laughing in his excitement, Jack almost couldn't vocalize his hope.

"Hi! Can you see me?! Can you hear me?" Jack could barely contain himself. He was nearly floating away. The wind had caught on to his enthusiasm and was swirling around him.

The young girl was nearing him, a smile on her face and her eyes bright with joy. Jack bent down to pick her up, and …

…she ran through him, calling to her friends behind him.

Jack's breath caught in his throat. The pain never lessened. It felt almost like something had been ripped away from him as the girl went through him, like something vital to his body was now missing. Emotionally, it was even worse. It was rejection, desperation, and hopelessness all at once. The hope that had soared not five minutes ago had been dashed to pieces as the little girl trampled through Jack's desperate yet invisible embrace.

Terrified of what he might do if he stayed, Jack soared straight up until he reached the highest jet currents, not caring where he ended up. The wind, having picked up on his distress, decided to take its charge to the one place it knew its frost child drew comfort from. Only minutes later, it was gently placing its charge on the icy surface of the child's home, even if the spring spirit had just run him off. The wind was sure that this was where the sprite needed to be to recover.

Jack hadn't cried in years, but he couldn't keep the tears back this time. His emotions were getting the best of him and he knew that there would be more hoarfrost covering the trees come morning, but he couldn't bring himself to care.

Little did he know, that his pain had begun to fuel a storm the likes of which he had never made before. He began to feel the tug on his power, but he thought it was only more ice forming around the area.

The winter spirit had dropped to his knees at the center of the ice gripping his hair with one hand and his staff with the other, his hold on both so strong as to turn the white skin over his knuckles nearly see through. His eyes were tightly shut and his mouth open in a silent scream that he could barely hold in.

As the storm grew overhead, the wind began picking up reaching levels that scared the townsfolk. Nearby, the people of Burgess watched out their windows as the storm formed, the black clouds forming out of nothing and the wind screaming past their homes, tearing limbs from trees and siding from buildings. The children were cowering under tables while their parents tried to soothe them, even as their own fear overtook them.

Back at the pond, the scream that Jack had been holding in had finally torn through his throat. His eyes opened marginally to reveal eyes that were glowing blue with power. At his side, his staff began to glow a faint blue, the same shade as his eyes.

The strong wind began to pick him up, bringing him to the center of the growing storm over Burgess. The storm continued to grow, beginning to cover more and more area, the wind tearing trees apart and destroying weak buildings.

And then the snow started falling. It fell in waves, coming down fast and hard. The wind was sweeping it around into a frenzy, creating small snow vortexes in open areas. In one hour, the snow accumulation had already reached almost two inches with no sign of slowing down. If anything, it looked like the storm was worsening.

Jack screamed and screamed until his voice gave out, the winds caring his voice to the town underneath him. He was scared of the force of the storm around him, but he couldn't calm it down. The more he tried to stop it, the worse it got. Eventually he stopped caring, planning on showing the world his pain.

The storm continued and the snow kept coming. Up in the clouds, the lone glowing figure was being batted about by the force of the wind and ice howling through the atmosphere. The frost and ice that had always covered Jack began thickening, covering him in chunks of ice. His hair became solid, clumps of ice covered snow sticking out in every direction. The frost on his skin slowly grew to become chunks of ice, obscuring his youthful face. Ice coated his eyelashes and eyebrows, giving the appearance of having eyes frozen shut.

Jack's colonial clothing, that he hadn't switched out since he was raised out of the ice by the Moon, was being torn apart by wind and ice. What little of his shirt was left, his vest having been ripped off at some point, was steadily being covered in ice, becoming a solid sheet that stuck to him in places. His cloak was being torn apart piece by piece, frost covering it to change it from brown to white. His pants, faring better than his shirt or cloak, were getting small tears but instantly being covered in ice due to the close proximity to his skin.

The staff gripped tightly in Jack's hand was also being battered, increasing the pain he already felt from the storm and events from earlier in the day. To protect it, ice began to crawl its way from the sprite's hand across the wood, covering every inch of it in a thick layer of ice and frost. The ice was so thick it hid the dark wood of the staff from sight, appearing as a staff of ice instead of wood.

Jack could barely open his eyes anymore due to the ice covering them. However, he didn't need to see to feel the despair growing in his chest and taking residence next to his hopelessness. He couldn't believe that it had come to this. He could feel the storm growing and growing to cover most of North America. It reached from just west of Illinois to past the eastern coast and just north of Georgia to the Arctic Circle.

Jack curled up into a ball, trying to hold himself together. He had lost track of time and didn't know how long the storm had been raging for. He just hoped it didn't last much longer.

As a tear started making its way down his cheek, freezing as it went, he thought to himself, _How could I have let this happen?_ He closed his eyes and went into a semi-conscious state to wait until his power would be used up and the storm's rage depleted. _Hopefully it's over before Easter._


	3. The First Believers

**AN: Thanks again for the reviews and and the new follows and faves! Things are starting to happen in this chapter. Hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Still don't own anything.**

**Chapter 3: The First Believers**

**Up at the North Pole**

Far north of the raging blizzard in North America, there was a large red building, invisible to the mortal eye. Within lived one of the most powerful immortals in existence, Santa Claus. Normally, the workshop would be abuzz with the sounds of yeti creating new toys or the elves making mischief. Right now, there wasn't a single yeti on the working floors or elf in the kitchens.

They had all made their way to the Globe Room with the big man himself to watch in horror as lights across North America started going out. What was truly frightening was that not all of the lights were going out due to lost belief. Some of the children in those areas were dying. Although the number of those dying was small, it was still troubling.

Nicholas St. North stood at the front, having already sent out the signal for the other Guardians. He waited impatiently for the others to arrive, pacing back and forth and occasionally mumbling to himself any idea he had that could have caused such a disaster.

The Pooka warrior, Bunnymund, was the first to arrive. North had not expected this as Easter was tomorrow and he approached the agitated Easter Bunny with caution.

Bunny was over by the fire melting snow off his fur and warming his paws, scowling darkly into the flames, when North approached.

"I did not expect you so soon, my friend," North started cautiously. "I had thought you would hesitate to come with Easter so close. And why are you covered in snow? It is not snowing here at the Pole."

North was confused by his friend's appearance. As he had said, it was not snowing at the workshop and Bunny was covered in huge chunks of snow. He would have had to dive through mounds of the snow outside to achieve such a look, which the Russian knew was very unlikely.

The rabbit stopped in his ministrations long enough to look at North, ears folded back in anger.

"I was running through my tunnels, as I do every year, to make sure that none are blocked for when my eggs run through," Bunny began. "When I got to North America, it seemed that every tunnel I had ever made was blocked by snow. When I finally got to the surface, I found a blizzard that could have heralded the end of the world if I was prone to thinking of such things."

At North's confused look, Bunny continued growing more agitated as he went.

"The storm had covered the ground in over four feet of snow and ice. The wind was tearing trees apart. I saw damage to buildings that I had only ever seen after tornadoes and hurricanes. Tree limbs had broken through windows and roofs allowing the cold and snow into the homes of most of the town that I was in. This was no normal storm North."

Bunny wiped his paw across his face to calm himself, waiting for the Cossack's response. Before North could formulate one, however, a green blur flew through the ceiling window closely followed by a small golden man on a cloud of golden sand.

Tooth went right up to Bunny and North looking frantic. She was wringing her hands together while zipping to and fro. The mini Tooth Fairies that were usually flying around her head to relay orders to the others were missing. She was covered in snow and her feathers were in disarray.

"The storm! Have you seen it!?" She was talking so fast that the others could barely understand her.

North gave Sandy a pointed look and the little man through a touch of sand over Toothiana, just enough to calm her down. Bunny went over to her and grabbed her upper arms, holding her in place to calm her down.

"Calm down, Tooth. I just came from the storm. What's wrong?" They all had a good idea as to what was bothering the Tooth Fairy so much, but Bunny needed to ask.

Tooth, finally calming down, fell to the floor covering her face with her hands. Soft sobs shook her shoulders as she told the others what the blizzard was doing.

"My fairies! The fairies that went there to collect the teeth. I haven't been able to find many of them. What few I have found are hurt and unable to fly because the wind blew their wings out."

North placed a hand on her shoulder to show his support. This was when Sandy started signing his own findings. North saw and understood what the Sandman was saying and connected his story to the disturbances on the Globe.

The large man sighed before answering Sandy. "Yes, Sandy. I know that some children have died in that area."

"What!?" Bunny whirled around to stare, shocked, at North.

"Yes. The lights on the Globe are going out in the areas affected by this blizzard. It is possible to distinguish which lights are going out from loss of belief and which are going out from the death of a child. Although most of the lost lights are just from losing belief, there is still a small portion of the area's children that have died."

"Who could do such a thing? That was no normal storm, so someone had to make it." Tooth was just as shocked as Bunny and had pulled herself back into the air, readying herself for battle if need be.

Bunny crossed his arms over his chest, his anger becoming more apparent as the discussion progressed.

"Well, of course it will be some sort of winter spirit. They are always destructive and unforgiving. Although, I wasn't aware of one that had this kind of power."

Sandy was waving his arms to get the others' attention again. He started signing that in his travels through the storm to assess the damage, he had heard a wail that was not caused by the wind. He followed it to the source near a town called Burgess. He could not find whoever was causing the sound because they were in the clouds and Sandy could not get through the ice, snow, and wind.

North was looking thoughtful now. "Over Burgess you say? If I remember correctly there is a new Spirit of Winter that resides their over the winter months. I wonder if this is his doing? He has been on the Naughty List almost every year since he was made immortal, but it is usually for something mischievous and nondestructive."

After a short, thoughtful silence, Bunny continued. "You don't think this has anything to do with Pitch, do you?"

Tooth gasped in shock. "You think that this winter spirit is creating such a damaging storm to empower Pitch?"

It was a valid thought. The Guardians hadn't seen Pitch Black since the last time they defeated him almost four centuries ago. They believed him to be near powerless after his sound defeat and unable to return to the surface. However, with the fear that the blizzard was causing, it would only be a matter of time before the Boogeyman returned to power again.

Bunny had started stomping off, ready to confront whoever was messing with his holiday and terrorizing North America.

"Where are you going, Bunny?" North asked.

"I'm going to go have Easter," the Pooka began, looking over his shoulder at the others. "And then I'm making a visit to Burgess."

That said, he tapped his hind leg twice against the floor to open one of his tunnels to the Warren.

The remaining immortals looked at each other worriedly.

"Should we go after him?" Tooth asked, quietly.

Sighing for the hundredth time that day, North shook his head. Bunny would take care of this. From what Sandy had said, the storm had already by going for two days. By the time Easter was over tomorrow, the winter spirit would have no energy left with which to fight the Pooka warrior off.

Shortly after, Tooth left to continue her search for her missing fairies and Sandy to continue giving dreams of a happy Easter without snow and cold.

* * *

**Back in Burgess**

The storm outside had been going for three days before lightening up. The snow had piled over the front door, but luckily the back door had been protected from the wind and snow so this family could escape the confines of their home if only for a short time. The wind had died down to normal levels and the snow had stopped falling. It was still unseasonably cold, though.

The young Bennett family was huddled around the makeshift fireplace. The two boys were curled into their mother's side under a blanket, watching as their father continued to board up windows and search for things to burn.

The power had gone out on the first day, not hours after the storm started, and the cold had started seeping into the house. To keep the cold at bay, Mr. Bennett had hollowed out their box television to use as a fire pit. Their bookshelf was easily dismantled and now lay in ash as the last of it was burnt away. Everything wood in their house had now been torn apart and lay to the side, awaiting its fate.

Mrs. Bennett had been very imaginative with their meals. Having very little in the way of fresh food anymore, they had to resort to all their canned goods. This morning, they had had fried spam with a side of pickled carrots that had been hiding in the back of one of the kitchen cabinets.

The two boys, Simon and Michael, had been hoping that the storm would be over in time for Easter morning. It was, but now that the sun was out and they could see the damage done, they knew that the Easter Bunny hadn't come. Their mother tried to console them, to tell them that the Easter Bunny would be their next year, but the boys wouldn't listen.

Simon, being the older of the two, had begun to think of the old myth that surrounded the icy pond just outside the town's borders.

"Mom? Do you think that that old man at the pond is the one who made this storm?"

Mrs. Bennett looked down at her son to see him staring out the one window that had yet to be boarded up.

"Well, sweaty, it certainly didn't feel like a normal storm," she said slowly as she remembered the unnatural sounds that accompanied the wind's howling. She had thought that someone may have been caught outside, but that thought left when the sound continued through until the next day. "Maybe Old Man Winter was angered by something."

Little Michael, having been awakened by the quiet voices, voiced his own innocent ideas.

"Maybe he's lonely. Someone should go see him now that the storm is done and see if he needs anything to make him happier."

Mr. and Mrs. Bennett looked at each other before Mrs. Bennett nodded. Mr. Bennett spoke up then.

"We have snowshoes in the closet and enough clothing to keep warm. The back door can be opened and we are pretty close to the forest's borders. It would be good for everyone to get out of the house for a bit. We could even see if any of our neighbors need help."

The two kids were up and running to the pile of clothing in the corner before their father finished his last sentence. They were talking animatedly about finally getting to go outside after three days confined to the few rooms of their house. Mrs. Bennett helped them into their layers before getting their snowshoes. Mr. Bennett busied himself with putting the fire out so the house didn't burn down while they were gone before joining his family at the door.

Before he opened the door, he turned to the kids and said, "The snow outside is very deep, so you have to be very careful where you step. The snowshoes will keep you on top of the snow, but just in case you need to hold onto either me or your mother."

He opened the door, and the family started to make their way into the forest to the home of Old Man Winter.

* * *

Jack was exhausted. The storm had drained him completely. He wasn't really sure if he was over Burgess anymore or not, but he didn't care. He just needed to get back to the ground and sleep for the next two weeks.

The wind had calmed down with the end of the storm and was now under his control again. It brought him back to ground level and settled him into one of the many snow drifts in the area. Jack could see a few trees in the area, but no buildings.

"Must have drifted away from the town," he said to himself.

He began to close his eyes and relax back into the snow, when he heard crunching behind him. He grudgingly sat up and looked behind him just in time to see a wooden projectile coming at his head.

Jack gasped as the boomerang made contact with his forehead, holding his hand to the now bloody cut. Pulling his hand back, he noticed that the blood was freezing together to make red crystals in place of the pale blue that were currently covering him.

The Spirit of Winter lifted his head to see the large grey rabbit with his arms extended with boomerangs in each hand, ready to attack. The Easter Bunny started advancing towards him, standing tall with ears straight up showing his intimidating height.

Jack knew exactly why this immortal was here. The storm had been going for three days, and this morning was Easter. No one within the boundaries of the storm would be celebrating the holiday this day.

"Do you have any idea what you have done?!"

The advancing Pooka was waving his arms about and snarling in rage. Jack started to back away as quickly as possible, his drained body not responding.

Eventually, the winter sprite was able to stand up, leaning heavily on his icy staff.

"I'm s-s-s-orry," he stuttered in apology. He was bordering on terrified of what the enraged Guardian might do. "I didn't mean to…"

Before Jack could finish his apology, one of the rabbit's boomerang-containing fists made contact with his face, sending him flying back into another snow drift. He could feel his nose breaking at the force of the blow.

As the sprite tried righting himself, Bunny bounded over to him and grabbed Jack by his shirt, breaking parts of the frozen material off as he went as he shook the sprite around to get his point across.

"What is wrong with you?! That storm of yours killed people and ruined Easter! You're just as bad as Pitch." Bunny was right in Jack's face by now, screaming into the winter spirit's ears until they were ringing.

"If you ever do anything like this again, I'll be bringing the other Guardians to punish you more heavily. Do you hear me?!"

"Yes! It won't happen again." And that was the truth. Jack didn't want this to happen again. The storm had hurt people!

Growling, Bunny threw the petrified Spirit of Winter into a nearby tree, knocking the wind from Jack's lungs, before diving down one of his many tunnels.

Jack curled up around himself at the base of the tree, trying to lessen the pain, both old and new. He already had small nicks and scratches from the ice in the clouds. With the wounds sustained from the fight with Bunny, he was beginning to look like an avenging and evil winter spirit.

"Wind, take me home."

* * *

His pond looked like an ice tornado went through. Spikes of ice were sticking out of trees, some having split some of the surrounding boulders. Some of the trees had been stripped of their bark and lower branches, more than a few having been ripped down entirely.

There was absolutely no snow on the ice that Jack slowly descended onto. He was used to his home taking the brunt of his power's wrath, but this was a little excessive.

A gasp to his right alerted him to yet another visitor. The sprite turned, wary of crossing another aggravated immortal. He certainly didn't expect the sight that was in front of him.

Just inside the circle of trees surrounding the clearing stood a family of mortals. The two boys were hanging onto their mother's hands, staring in fright as the winter spirit landed on the ice of the pond. To the family who now believed in Old Man Winter, Jack appeared as a winter spirit covered in the ice he commanded and the blood of his victims. They were terrified of his power that he had displayed in the blizzard, but needed to make sure that it wouldn't happen again.

Jack, unsure of what was happening, just stared at the family not daring to hope. He was leaning heavily on his staff, making him look even more like the old man the mortals believed him to be.

Mr. Bennett stepped in front of his family to hide them from sight as much as possible.

"Hello great winter spirit," the man started. "We wanted to ask if you were responsible for this storm that has been affecting us for so many days and if it is truly over?"

Stunned, all Jack could do was nod. They could see him! Not only could the children see him, so could their parents. He began to smile and tears of happiness escaped his eyes, but all the Bennetts could see was the cynical Old Man Winter creating more ice.

"We promise that the townspeople will honor your presence in these forests for as long as you reside here. No one will bother you again if that is what you wish."

With Jack's continued silence, the family began to make their way back into the forest, trying to get away from the spirit as quickly as possible.

Jack stood there, leaning on his staff, for minutes after they left. He was still shocked beyond words and he couldn't bring himself to move. Eventually, he came back to himself and started hobbling after them until the wind picked him up to carry him the rest of the way.

The tracks were easy to follow and led back to the town. He never made it their, though.

As he was passing a group of smaller trees that somehow made it through the storm, he heard small, pained squeaks coming from one of the branches. Looking up, Jack began searching for the injured bird. If what Bunny had said earlier was true, then there would be many animals that had been hurt by the wind and ice.

Flying up to one of the more protected branches, what Jack found was not a bird but one of Toothiana's little fairies. She appeared to have been batted about in the wind and some of her feathers were missing entirely. Her wings shredded in places, making her unable to fly back to her mother.

Jack leaned in to pick her up, catching her attention.

"Are you okay Baby Tooth?" She squeaked in response while continuing to shiver in both cold and pain.

The winter spirit gently picked her up and cuddled her to his chest.

"Were you caught in the storm? I'm really sorry about that," Jack apologized to the little fairy. "I'm sure your mother will be looking for you and any others caught in the storm. You can stay with me until then if you want."

At Baby Tooth's hesitant nod, Jack floated back down to the ground and made his way home. With all the snow and ice, he shouldn't have to worry about Hanako coming by again anytime soon. Although, he should probably be careful now that he has damaged so much of the local wildlife.

Jack landed in the snow near his pond and dug a small hole in it for Baby Tooth's temporary home. He lined it with some of the nearby leaves and a part of his cloak and placed her inside.

"Stay here," he told her. "I'm going to go find some warmer bedding and maybe some berries for you to eat. I'll be back in a little bit."

As he left, he thought back to his first ever experience with a believer. Well, actually, more than one. He would never have thought that the myth of Old Man Winter would allow any of the townspeople to see him. Maybe he could find more believers either in the area or maybe in other places that the storm affected.

If not, maybe he could make another storm with the same effect. He'll talk to Baby Tooth later and ask her for advice.

And with that thought firmly in place, Jack went off in search of something warm for the little Tooth Fairy he had recently adopted.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

**AN:** Thanks for reading! Please let me know what you guys think so far and review. If you guys want something to happen or need something explained better then I need to know!


	4. Baby Tooth

**AN: This is unfortunately a filler chapter. It is needed so that you guys will understand Baby Tooth's thought processes later on in the story.**

**Also, I'm really sorry this took so long. The semester is winding down and I have a lot to do this week. Hopefully this was worth the wait.**

**Chapter 4: Baby Tooth**

The little tooth fairy had left for her rounds that day not knowing the life-altering blizzard she would be flying through. She had grabbed her coin from the North America tower at the Tooth Palace, said goodbye to some of her sisters who would be doing rounds in Asia that day, and left to find the tooth that Mother had told her about.

She had just reached the large river town when the wind had started to pick up and she felt a storm approaching. Determined to reach her destination before the storm hit the town, she put on a little more speed gripping the coin tightly so the wind wouldn't take it from her.

Without warning, the wind picked up again, reaching levels that were unsafe for her to fly in. She was being blown around in circles while looking for a safe place to wait out the storm.

Not far from her location in the middle of the paved street, she found a window with a flower box nailed to the sill. The small fairy made a beeline for safety only to lose sight of her haven when the snow started coming down. She looked around her, not being able to see anything but the white in front of her.

Panicking slightly, she thought about continuing in the direction she was headed originally, but decided against it. Flying anywhere in storms such as this was dangerous. She knew this from experience having once been caught in a blizzard in the high peaks of the Himalayan Mountains.

When the wind picked up even more, though, she knew she couldn't stay in the air. She was trying to figure out what way was down when the wind caught the coin she carried and started pulling her along its swirling currents. Having lost all sense of direction, she could do nothing more than hope she didn't run into anything.

The little tooth fairy had been flung around by the wind for nearly an hour before she realized that she had dropped the coin somewhere along the way, losing what little weight it provided her to counter the extreme force of the wind. Without it, she lost what little control she could muster in her small body. She doubted she would be able to fly herself to safety if ever she could see far enough to see shelter. She wondered if she was even still in the town or if the storm had dragged her out into the vast and empty lands surrounding it.

Seeing no other option but to go with the wind, the little fairy tucked her fragile wings in close to her body and waited for an opportunity to pull herself to safety. That chance came soon after in the form of a small copse of trees. All of a sudden, she was twirling through the flimsy branches of some small saplings close enough that she might be able to grab one.

As her tiny hands tried to grasp the twigs, the wind would just pull her away again, though. Mustering what little energy she still had, the small tooth fairy opened her wings and attempted to slow herself down enough to land in a tree. As she beat her wings furiously, she could feel the strain on the thin membrane trying to break through.

She was getting closer to a tree, almost close enough to pull herself onto a branch, when one of her wings ruptured. The loss of one wing nearly allowed the wind to take her back out into open air.

With one last push and the collapse of her second wing, she finally landed in the juncture between a branch and the trunk of her sanctuary. Looking down at her mangled wings, she felt her heart stutter noticing the tears in the membrane. She would not be able to fly back to her mother on her own.

Curling up in a small ball to preserve warmth, she began the long wait for the end of the storm, thanking the extreme cold for dulling the pain in her wings.

* * *

She awoke awhile later to weather that had vastly improved. The snow was no longer falling from the sky and the wind was no longer trying to rip her from her hiding spot. The little fairy could feel her mother searching for her and her lost sisters. The many tooth fairies had a strong connection with their mother because they were in essence just mini-copies of the real Tooth Fairy.

The little fairy poked her head from her hiding spot to look around her with apprehension. She wasn't sure where the wind had taken her in its fury and if she was too far from where she was supposed to be her mother might not be able to find her.

Looking around at the trees surrounding her and the town she could only barely see, she knew that she was far from her original destination. The tiny fairy was going to have to try to find a way to get to the town so the next group of collectors would find her.

Suddenly, a family with two young boys walked past her quickly, heading for the town. They had snow shoes on to keep on top of the snow and multiple layers of clothing to stay warm. They looked scared, as though they had just come from the center of the storm. The youngest was so terrified that tears were running down his face.

Thinking quickly, she tried to push off the branch to land on one of the children to carry her to the town knowing this was likely to be her only chance to get there. Crawling up the branch she was perched on, she gritted her teeth and tried forcing her wings to move, to carry her just a few feet away.

Squeaking in pain, she fell back to her branch unable to get her incredibly damaged wings to cooperate. Her face fell as the family continued on quickly, unaware of the helpless fairy they were leaving behind in the cold.

A few minutes passed with the little fairy just staring at the path the family took when the wind picked up again. Looking around in fear, thinking that the storm was returning, she tried to make her way back to her hiding spot. Her wings kept getting caught on little twigs poking out from the branch, though, until she fell down and squeaked in pain.

Curling in on herself to relieve the pain, she didn't expect what happened next. A pale face covered in ice and snow appeared over the branch, concern etched into the immortal's brow. For an immortal he was. The tooth fairy could tell by the deathlike pallor of his skin and the irises that were in the shape of snowflakes. He must be a winter spirit of some kind.

"Are you okay Baby Tooth?" the boy asked, reaching in to pick her up.

The tooth fairy tried to respond in a way that he would understand, only ever having communicated with her mother or sisters. She wanted to tell him that that wasn't her name, that she didn't actually have one, and that she was cold and her wings hurt. All that came out, though, was a small squeak.

The boy had finally picked her up, rather gently too, and brought her to his chest where she could hang on to his badly tattered clothing.

"Were you caught in the storm? I'm really sorry about that," the winter sprite apologized, his bright blue eyes looking sad. He really did look apologetic, as though he was the one to have created that horrible storm. But that couldn't be, thought the little tooth fairy. He was far too nice to be so mean. "I'm sure your mother will be looking for you and any others caught in the storm. You can stay with me until then if you want."

Knowing that there was no way she could make it to the town by herself, she gave a hesitant nod. She would need somewhere to stay, preferably not out in the open like she had been doing. Maybe this sprite had an actual house she could stay in to warm up.

The sprite smiled a little, his face brightening as he brought her back down to the ground. Looking down, the fairy saw that the sprite actually had the ability to fly, like her and her sisters, only he had no wings. He could command the wind!

The little tooth fairy, Baby Tooth now she guessed, knew of very few immortals who had any control over the wind. All were seasonal spirits, and typically not just lowly sprites. Could this spirit be the Spirit of Winter? The winter weather had been more under control recently, as though someone was telling the season what it was supposed to do.

During the time it took for Baby Tooth to make these observations, the winter spirit had made his way to a clearing that surrounded a pond that had been frozen over. The clearing had little snow compared to the surroundings, but the spires of ice gave it away as the home of a winter elemental.

The little fairy was brought back to the present when the boy landed beside the pond and started digging a hole in the snow. He lined it with some of the local leaves and ripped off a piece of his cloak to put in as well before resting her gently on the bed.

As he pulled back, Baby Tooth was given her first full view of the immortal and she was surprised at what she saw. Having been up close to him earlier, she had been able to look underneath all the ice to the young features of a boy just out of childhood. Now though, with the ice covering every inch of his skin, she could easily mistake him for an old man. With his white hair and outdated clothing, pale skin that only barely covered his bones, he looked like an old hermit that had lived out in the woods for too long. He even had a staff made of ice that could have been mistaken as a walking stick if he wasn't currently holding it at his side.

What really drew her attention, though, was the obvious cuts and bruises along his limbs and face. He looked like he had been caught in the storm as she had, only not able to find his way out of it in time. It also seemed that something had hit him quite forcefully on his forehead. Oddly enough, however, none of the cuts bled although blood could be seen near all of them. They still looked like open wounds, but they were frozen over as though the ice was acting as a bandage.

The boy smiled a little before standing.

"Stay here," he told her. "I'm going to go find some warmer bedding and maybe some berries for you to eat. I'll be back in a little bit."

And then he took off into the wind, leaving Baby Tooth to her thoughts.

She couldn't understand who this boy was. He was a winter elemental, obviously, but was he of any importance in the nature immortal world. It would seem so because the wind answered his call. But if that was the case, then he would have been powerful enough to stop that storm or at least lessen the damage done.

Or he could have caused it. Baby Tooth didn't like this thought. The more she thought about it, the more it made sense. He had obviously been caught in the storm and had apologized to her for her own experience with the wind and snow. His home, which she now understood did not include any sort of actual shelter, was enforced by giant spikes of ice that looked rather threatening if you weren't invited. He also appeared to be drained of all energy, which any spirit who had created such a storm would be.

But none of this made sense. The boy she had just met was nice, with small smiles and a caring personality. He tried to make her as comfortable as he could on their trip to his home and understood her need for warmth in such an atmosphere.

Baby Tooth breathed out rather forcefully. Confused and wanting her mother, she was starting to grow a little agitated. The constant throbbing pain in her wings was not helping her mood any either.

Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, she began to calm herself and resigned herself to the fact that she would have to wait for answers to any of her questions.

Laying down in her almost warm bed, she decided to take a nap to begin the healing process while her new friend was gone.e opened the door, and the family started to make their way into the forest to the home of Old Man Winter.

**XXXXXX**

**Hope you guys are enjoying the story! Please leave a review on your way out.**


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